Announcing its new brand identity, India's largest two-wheeler maker Hero MotoCorp, formerly Hero Honda,

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on Tuesday said it will set up two new manufacturing plants in the country and will pump in more investments in the next five years than it has done in the last 27 years with Honda.

Amidst applause from hundreds of cheering dealers, employees and other associates gathered at the majestic O2 Arena on the banks of river Thames, Hero MotoCorp’s much-awaited new global brand identity was unveiled by Brijmohan Lall, chairman, and Pawan Munjal, MD & CEO, here.

The company, which on Tuesday also introduced two new products under its new brand — a 110cc scooter ‘Maestro’ and 150cc off-road bike ‘Impulse’ — said it would soon tie up with a European firm for technology support for its future product platforms.

“The new brand identity was born out of our desire to break the shackles and realise our potential which were restricted by the nature of our JV with Honda,” Munjal said.

The brand identity launch was marked by the presence of global icons, including tennis player Boris Becker, singer Akon and F1 driver David Coulthard, along with superstar Shah Rukh Khan.

“One of the plants will be in south India and will be announced soon. The other one will be in west India. We will be setting aside a war chest for our both domestic and global foray,” Hero MotoCorp MD and CEO Pawan Munjal told reporters here.

Last month the company, the maker of almost half the motorcycles sold in India, had said it was looking at a capacity of 7.5 lakh units annually for its proposed fourth plant for which it would invest up to Rs 550 crore. Earlier, sources had said the company had shortlisted Gujarat and Karnataka for setting up the plant.

The company at present produces 61.5 lakh units from its three manufacturing plants at Dharuhera and Gurgaon in Haryana, and Haridwar in Uttarakhand.

The company would continue to sell its existing Hero Honda products. While being in the JV, the company had invested over $1 billion in the last 27 years, Munjal added.

On sales, Munjal said, "We are looking at $10 billion turnover in the next five years and sales of 10 million units. We expect exports to be about 10 per cent of our total sales."

The company has already identified 30 countries in Latin America, Southeast Asia and Africa for exports, he added.

The company is looking to enter the sports bike segment, but declined to share details. Commenting on the new identity, Munjal said, “Hero signals continuity. The logo, H with red and black, have distinct meaning. While red is about energy, passion, and confidence, black represents premiumness and solidity."

The edges in the logo is a statement of style, connection, engineering, breakthrough and innovation of the new brand, which is intended to give the company a platform for growth, he added. "...Through this we shall establish a new paradigm," Munjal said.